Painful Life
by EmberAmberFirdaus
Summary: When Raven heals, what happens to her? And what does Robin have to do with it?


"Here. Let me." The empath told Robin.

His wounds weren't life-threatening, but they were serious enough to require Raven's healing abilities. He had broken ribs, a fractured leg, and several freely-flowing wounds, on his head, his legs, and his arms.

As she moved her hands over his body, wounds started to disappear. As she finished healing all the bruises and cuts, she started to work on the broken ribs and fractured leg, plus the concussion he had gotten falling into a brick wall.

As she finished healing him, Robin sighed in relief. The magic was almost like ice and pain killers, but a hundred times better.

Finally, she was done. She stood up abruptly, swaying slightly, then almost fell over.

"Woah there!" Robin got up and caught her, his concern for her etched into every line on his face.

"Sorry. I just got...dizzy." Raven put her hood back up and left the room.

Too late. He had noticed her wince, and knew that she hadn't healed her own injuries yet.

Two hours later, Raven hadn't come out of her room. Robin volunteered to check on her.

No one answered his knock. That was very unlike Raven.

"Raven? Raven! RAVEN!" He shouted, punching in the override code.

What he saw made him weak.

Raven was lying on the floor with a pool of blood around her.

He screamed then, remembering his own parents' deaths.

The rest of the Titans, all except for Beast Boy, were out getting pizza. Robin was trying to anticipate Slade's next move, and Beast Boy was setting up a trap for Cyborg.

Beast Boy came running. He slid to a stop when he saw Raven.

"Wh-What happened?" He turned on Robin. "What did you do to her?" He screamed wildly, advancing on him.

"Nothing. I-I found her like this. We-We have to get her to the infirmary. NOW." Robin told the boy.

"All right." Beast Boy carefully picked up Raven, and started running to the medical bay.

Once there, Robin started to patch up the freely-flowing blood from her head and various other parts of her body.

After that, he started to examine her. Robin realized something. They were the same injuries he had before Raven healed him.

"What the...?" He breathed.

Finally, when he got her stable enough, Raven slipped into a healing trance.

Beast Boy and Robin breathed a sigh of relief.

"All right, Beast Boy, just call the Cyborg and Starfire, and tell them we need...um...makings for Starfire's most complicated...uh, food." Robin told the young changeling.

"Aye-aye, sir!" Beast Boy went off to the main room to call the other Titans.

"Ughhh." Robin turned around to see Raven waking up slowly, and moving very carefully.

"Raven!" Robin jumped forward and grabbed her into a hug.

"Ummmm..." Raven just looked at him, wincing.

"Oh! Sorry!" Robin blushed and composed himself.

"Raven-"

"I know. I'll tell you later."

"Beast Boy too?" Robin asked her.

"...You can tell him." The empath answered.

(Later that night)

"All right, y'all! We've got enough ingredients to make a Starfire-uh, dinner...and enough to make a giant Cyborg-style dinner! We can uh, eat...both." The teens looked slightly sickened at the thought of eating one of Starfire's...creations.

Suddenly, Cyborg stopped talking and looked at Raven, squinting.

"Raven? You okay?" He asked, worried.

"I'm fine...Just tired, is all." The empath answered, looking even paler than usual.

"All right. How 'bout you go to your room, and I'll bring something to you?" Cyborg asked.

"That would be...nice." Raven thanked him in her own way, nodding her head and attempting a smile.

"Oh Friend Raven, you do not feel the well?" Starfire queried.

"No, not really, Starfire. I...appreciate the concern." The girl walked out of the room. That in itself was alarming. Raven was always a foot off of the ground. Who would walk who could fly?

Also, as she had explained to the team once before, "My spells work better in the air, because I have more room around me to summon them."

Cyborg cocked an eyebrow at Robin.

The traffic pole colored-superhero sighed. "I know, I know. I'll check on her once dinner is done with."

Cyborg nodded, and turned around, catching Beast Boy, who was sneaking out the chicken in exchange for tofu.

"Oh no, BB! You are NOT puttin' tofu...blegh...into my dinner! You can make your own, and eat the stuff I make that isn't meat!"

Robin laughed at the antics surrounding him lightly, but inwardly his mind was racing. 'What happened to Raven?' He thought.

He was startled when a loud voice broke his train of thoughts.

"MESS TIME!" Cyborg yelled.

After dinner, Robin took a plate of food to Raven, along with a steaming mug of herbal tea.

He knocked on her door gently before coming in.

Raven was sitting up in her bed when she opened the door with her powers to allow him in.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." Robin replied back.

He set the food in front of her, and was confused when she wrinkled her nose and pushed it all the way, even the tea.

"Raven, why won't you eat something?" Robin asked her, concerned. She usually loved Cyborg's cooking.

"I'm...just not hungry." Robin looked at her carefully. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and he cautiously lifted a hand to test her head, trying not to lose his head.

"You have a fever, Raven."

The empath looked away.

"Raven. I need you to tell me something. How did you get the same exact injuries I did-wait a minute. Raven, what are you not telling me? Your healing actually transfers the damage to your own body?" Robin shook with anger, directed at himself for never knowing.

"I..." She looked away from his intense gaze.

"Raven! Tell me! If you don't, I will be forced to remove you from the team. I can't afford to have any of my teammates being injured in battle because of an unknown...something." Robin wilted inside at his cruel words, but he forced his voice to stay steady.

Through the link, he could feel Raven's initial shock, then anger, a great pool of sadness, and finally, pain. So much pain that Robin passed out.

"What-What was that?" He gasped as he came to.

"I'm so sorry. I let my control go for one second, and you...you felt the pain I am feeling." Raven looked down, fiddling around with the sheets on her bed.

"Oh, Raven! Does this happen EVERY time you heal someone?" Robin asked, needing to know.

"No. Just-just when I heal you. You tend to be the most badly injured, though."

"Since when?" Robin asked gently.

"Since when, what?" Raven asked him softly.

"Since when has this happened?" Robin asked her, staring into her eyes, willing her to tell him, and wishing he could just pick her up. To have the power to heal her, and care for her, and even to tuck her between the sheets until she fell asleep...Robin shook his head. Wishing wouldn't help anything, or anyone.

"Since...Since I established that link between you and me. Whenever you feel pain, I feel it too. I've tried to limit the pain you receive from me, though. And I try not to intrude on your other emotions." Raven looked at him, then started shivering violently.

"Raven?! Are you okay?" Robin asked her, now wildly concerned. Her shivering was shaking the entire bed.

"J-Just c-cold." She said brightly. Well, as brightly as Raven ever got.

Robin got her a very, very thick comforter and tucked it around her shoulders. She smiled at him in gratitude. One of her real smiles, the one's which took Robin's breath away.

"So, why can't you stop the pain you feel coming from me?" Robin asked, feeling more than a little bit guilty.

"Be-Because it is so strong. Emotions I have full control over, but pain you can't control. Things that happen to you, you can't control them. And, with the link established, I can only control the pain I feel. For a while, at least." Raven grimaced a little bit, indicating the severity of the pain she was in. Raven never showed pain, never allowed it to cross her face at will.

"Let's get you into bed, all right? We can talk later." Robin stood up.

Raven tried imitating his action, but was too weak to stand up, or put any weight on her legs at all.

Robin, ignoring her cries of protest, scooped her up, noting how little she weighed, and tucked her gently between the sheets. He pulled the blankets over her, and, seeing as she was still shivering, grabbed more and more blankets to put on top of her. Finally, when he had run out of blankets and Raven's lips were still blue, he said to the room, "Temperature increase by ten degrees Fahrenheit." It instantly became warmer.

Raven, just as she was slipping off into sleep, murmured, "D-Don't g-go..."

Robin, torn, decided to tell Cyborg where he was, and that he would stay with Raven in case she needed him that night.

Cyborg glanced at the teen when Robin told him and said, "Robin? Take care of our girl."

Robin smiled slightly and replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I will."

He headed back to Raven's room, grabbing a thermometer and some pills from the med lab.

When he closer, he was struck by an awful feeling.

He ran the rest of the way to her room, and gently slid open the door.

As he stepped inside, he noticed Raven was tossing and turning wildly in her bed. She was gasping, as though someone was choking her.

Robin quickly dropped the things he was carrying onto a nearby chair, and picked her up, trying to ease her out of the dream. When he touched her, he saw what she was seeing.

It was her mother, Arella. She was being murdered, hundreds of different ways, all of them gruesome. And Raven was forced to watch.

Snapping himself out of it, Robin shook Raven until she woke up, shaking.

'R-Robin?" Raven asked uncertainly.

"Yes?" Robin asked her, picking her up and setting her down on the bed, handing her a fresh cup of tea.

Raven tried to wave it away, but Robin pushed it back into her hands.

"No. You need something to drink. You're dehydrated and very thin. Why can't you fully heal yourself?" He asked her, letting her lean on him when it was clear she didn't have enough energy to sit up straight, a situation she was not comfortable in.

"Because of you." Seeing Robin's expression, she hurried to explain. "Your emotions aren't mine, therefore, I can't control them. Same goes for pain. Although the injuries transfer to me, I can't heal them because they aren't mine."

Robin's eyes went wide as Raven nearly fell to the floor as she tried to stand up again. Only his quick reflexes saved her from a faceplant on her floor.

When Robin picked her back up, he realized that they were in a very compromising situation. Their faces were right next to each other.

Raven stopped breathing.

Robin chuckled, and lightly kissed her on the forehead. Raven's eyes became huge. He tucked her in, pulled the covers onto her, and dragged a cot next to her bed. He had decided to make up a cot, to be somewhat comfortable.

"Good night, Raven."

"Yeah, yeah, you too."

Robin smiled in the darkness.

**Hey, all you cool people! I'm EmberAmberFirdaus, no newbie to this site, but I AM a newbie to this part of the site! Anyway, here is my first story on the epic adventures of the Teen Titans! Please Review! Oh, and don't forget to read it first! ;D**

**~EmberAmberFirdausXD**


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